Nexus test the new DYE Tactical Gear at the UK Big Game as experienced by Jay Ford of London Nexus

On the drive up I wasn’t too sure what to expect as this was my first big game. In fact it was my first time playing scenario or in the woods at all, excluding the handful of times I played rec ball before I knew what paintball was.

Upon arrival the Dye booth was already set up and the new tactical gear was receiving allot of attention from both paintballers and airsoft players alike. As there was a fair amount of work to do I decided to sneak off and take a look at the rest of the site. This was when the size of the event actually hit me, I heard people mention they expected around 1700 players but it wasn’t until I saw all the tents set out at the campsite I realized exactly how many people this was, it looked like some kind of music festival, just with more camo.

The second day seemed even busier. We spent most of it in the Dye booth talking to players and soaking up the atmosphere. Most of the questions were about the new tactical gear, the DYECAM I4, NT and Rotors being the most popular among players. As with all large events DYE attend, we were providing tech service to help answer any questions and give general maintenance advice.

Once the whole team arrived we went down to the expo range to let players test the 2011 range of markers, this also gave us the chance to shoot some paint and for Clint to hustle some children out of their pocket money by challenging them to the pole shooting drill (he swears they weren’t playing for money but I’m not so sure). As expected the NT11 and DM11 were the favored markers but I was also impressed by the Reflex, this was the first time I had shot one. It both felt and shot incredibly smooth and was surprised to hear it retailed at £410, it’s definitely great value for money.

On the Sunday we were bribed into getting up earlier than I care to remember with the promise of using the new Dye tactical gear. There was a variety of styles to choose from starting with either a tactical pull over or mod top and then adding either a harness or a tac vest to hold the accessories. I was surprised how easy the gear was to use, and by the variety of attachments available, allowing for a large amount of customization.

What I like most about Dyes new tactical gear, is that though we were wearing matching kit and looked like a proper squad there was also allot of individuality and no two players had identical set ups – everyone had customized their kit for both comfort and practicality.

Once kitted we headed to the field, accompanied by Ash, today’s designated photographer and human shield. After 10 minutes of marching round the never ending game zone we finally came across a group of people walking up the path towards us. There was an awkward moment when we realized we had somehow wandered into enemy territory and these players were the enemy. Luckily we spotted this first and in unison opened fire sending the others running or to the dead zone. At this point I knew it was going to be a good day.

Throughout the day we stormed a few buildings, most occupied by the north team but at least one by our own team (sorry Bob). We were involved in a charge of about 300 south players (by involved I mean we sat on the hill and shot the people who ran away) and crawled stamped and fell through bushes thorns and trees, all in all it was a really enjoyable day, I can’t say I know who won but I don’t think winning really mattered.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 5th, 2011 at 4:54 pm and is filed under Europe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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